Martin Luther King Jr. Day
The impact of Martin Luther King Jr. is everlasting. With racial inequality being an issue of great importance in our country, we would like to recognize Dr. King for helping start this battle during a time where speaking out was not a matter of having an anonymous Twitter account.
During his career, King was arrested 29 times in total for fighting on behalf of equality. As a people, African-Americans were treated as second-class citizens. They were not allowed into public schools for white children, they were given specific laws pertaining to where they could live, where they could eat, and even where they could use the bathroom. Our country still has a very long way to go to achieve racial equality, but we stand where we do today thanks to brave pioneers, like Dr. King, and their disregard for personal safety while fighting for the greater good.
Many people know of the marches from Selma to Montgomery by civil rights activists in 1965. In Selma, activists had been fighting for black Americans’ constitutional right to vote since 1963. The Selma to Montgomery marches were a series of three marches on the 54-mile highway from Selma, Alabama to the state capitol of Montgomery. The first march took place on March 7, 1965 and came to be known as ‘Bloody Sunday’ because when the protestors crossed the county line, state troopers and possemen attacked the unarmed marchers with clubs and tear gas, resulting in law enforcement beating one of the organizers, Amelia Boynton, completely unconscious. Two days later, on March 9, the second march went underway. While troopers stepped aside to let marchers pass, King led the group back to the church, wanting to achieve federal protection for the march. That night, a group of angry white citizens beat and killed civil rights activist James Reeb. He was a minister from Boston who had come to march with the group. Eventually, on March 21, President Johnson sent 1,900 members of the Alabama National Guard to protect the participants. By the time the march reached the Alabama state capitol on March 25, 25,000 people arrived in support of voting rights.
This is a story of unbelievable resilience. Thousands of black citizens endured physical, emotional and social abuse just for fighting to be treated as humans. On this Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we should remember what those before us went through to make possible the world we live in today. Also, we should stay cognizant of the fact that while many don’t understand the severity of social inequality’s lasting affects in present time, we can all agree that Dr. King was correct when he said, “We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.” Regardless of your political beliefs, religious beliefs or ethnicity, we are one people and “unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.
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Ken Bigham Jr. has nearly three decades of experience navigating the law to protect his clients from unfair treatment by insurance companies, the government and corporations. He believes that Bigham Law’s purpose is to provide outstanding value to its clients and compassionate service to its community.
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I was in the middle of a custody battle for my daughter back when I hired Ken Bigham to be my attorney. I needed someone willing to fight for justice for my daughter. When it comes to right is right and wrong is wrong, he is the one I turned to. He is very honest and takes pride in his client’s situations. It’s more than just a job to him in his heart.